Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has refuted suggestions that there is a certain culture of silence in the country.
Addressing Journalists in the North East Region on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, the former Broadcaster said claims of a culture of silence only comes from people who don’t want their opinions to be opposed.
“This claim that there is something called the culture of silence in this country cannot be true. This is a country of about 500 radio stations, about 100 TV stations, millions of social media accounts and everybody is freely expressing themselves.
“What some persons cannot stand is that when they express their thoughts and other people speak that they disagree, then they claim you are silencing them. Respectfully, that is the beauty of our democracy, that I will have my say, and you can disagree with me,” Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah’s comment comes after several Ghanaians have expressed concerns over attempts to gag or intimidate them from expressing their opinions.
In a recent article, Presidential staffer and senior journalist Elizabeth Ohene writes that there is no culture of silence in Ghana but rather a culture of noise.
“I would like to suggest that far from silence, we are suffering from too much noise, so much so we can’t hear one another. Far from a culture of silence, we now have a culture of noise.
“The people of Ghana have taken President Akufo-Addo at his word that they should be active citizens and everyone has something to say on everything. Everyone seems convinced he is right and has the answer to our problems. The intolerance that I see in our public discourse is not limited to those in power.
“Those who see themselves as experts are far more intolerant of being challenged than anybody else. Who says that journalists cannot get things wrong? Who says CSOs don’t have their own interests that they seek to protect and who says they are always right? Who says academics cannot get things wrong and why should challenging them be seen as intolerance?”